14 ms·
Does storing bread in the fridge make it last longer? (2019)
- Pick-A-Hill2019 6y agoAh the things I learn from clicking random HN links - Sliced bread was once illegal in the United States! https://culinarylore.com/food-history:sliced-bread-was-once-illegal-in-the-us/ https://culinarylore.com/food-history:sliced-bread-was-once-...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- hinkley 6y agoTL;DR: banned during rationing in WWII, which is less sensational. Lots of things got weird during rationing.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Scoundreller 6y agoOne of those actions that has more to do with optics and making people feel like they're making an achievable contribution, ignoring the minimal impact on the actual problem. Like banning straws.
- eitland 6y agoAround here peeling potatoes b before boiling was illegal during rationing in WWII.
- dragonsky67 6y agoI'm guessing the potato police would swoop in and inspect your spuds for signs of peeling prior to cooking. Got to watch out for the might PP (potato police). ;-)
- hinkley 6y agoMaybe we didn't know that then, but that's actually dangerous. As potatoes start to go 'off' it starts to turn green on the outside, and the green bits contain alkyloids that are hell on the liver. You have to peel at least past the green.
- Scoundreller 6y ago> since this bread, without its heavy wrapping of wax-paper would dry out more quickly “housewives” would often throw away the stale slices. This wasted wheat. Surprising. I just tear apart stale slices and let them dry out. Then use them as soup dippers, soup crumble (as people do with crackers) or give to my mom to make bread crumbs.
- prennert 6y agoPro tip: slice and freeze fresh bread and either defrost it over a few hours or just toast it before consumption. Refrigerated bread gets soggy fast and is not worth the space it takes in the fridge.
- Cthulhu_ 6y agoThis is what we do and have done when I grew up; my parents would go to lidl or aldi and get a loaf of bread per day of the week and yeet it in their big chest freezer, every day (in the evening) they'd take one out to defrost overnight. We do it now as well although our freezer isn't that big. Defrosting it is best done at room temperature, but in a bind can be done in the microwave; it's a very thin line between defrosting it and warming it up (making it soggy and warm and ugh) though.
- segfaultbuserr 6y agoThis is the useful "lifehack" I've been using for a while - just put everything in the freezer. For sliced bread, it just needs a 10-minute cook in the toaster oven, and you'll never worry about bad bread in the fridge again... Food in the fridge still decays and it can be a headache if you left something inside. but food in the freezer has practically an unlimited life - may not be as good after a while, but not dangerous.
- tootie 6y agoI keep my bread in the fridge to prevent sogginess. I just make sure it's in the plastic and clipped shut. My big reason for keeping it in the fridge is because it's dry and sealed.
- jeffrallen 6y agoIf your bread lasts longer than it takes you to eat it, your bread is too big, or it is not yummy enough to make you eat enough. Get yourself to a proper boulanger and eat proper bread!
- mgsouth 6y agoIt's obvious why you were downvoted. Its Rye or go home.
- chris_st 6y agoOr I'd like to make enough bread that I don't have to make bread again really soon?
- analog31 6y agoThis is what my family does. We adjust the size of the loaves to have each one last about a day. Multiple loaves per batch. Someone is responsible for taking a loaf out of the freezer for the next day before going to bed.
- jnellis 6y agoI've been making two loaves a week, sourdough and rye, for over a year now. After they cool overnight they go in the fridge for a couple hours just to make slicing them easier, then they get bagged and go in the freezer. This seems like it maintains 'freshness' the best. The toaster is more or less set to defrost a frozen slice on the first run and toast it on the second. Ironically, the starter mix does live in the fridge on a daily basis, never goes stale and never goes bad.
- ycombinete 6y agoI’m very similar, even my toaster method! I bake bread for the household once a week. 1 kilo of flour, 2 loaves. Sliced up and frozen within an hour or so of coming out of the oven. I don’t understand how a sourdoughs starter could go stale though, as it’s a liquid, not bread? My starter recently got the orange streak of doom, and I’m back to an overnight biga artisan bread. I avoid the fridge as it definitely stales homemade bread, and leaving it out too long ends up chasing mould. Freezer is the best option for sure.
- lostlogin 6y agoIt’s interesting how different breads made at home go stale. Sourdough does lasts a few days. Focaccia ages terribly and is stale after a day. Ciabatta ages really well and is still good days later. The ciabatta is made with tipo 00 flour.
- voisin 6y agoSo you slice the whole loaf after the hours in the fridge and before going in the freezer?
- de_watcher 6y agoOr you use a power saw to slice it after taking out of the freezer?
- mikepurvis 6y agoI have three kids and have been baking bread for over a decade— I do 4-5 loaves at once, and it's a mix of white, wheat, sourdough, and regular yeast. Between toast for breakfast and maybe grilled cheese the next day for lunch, we can wipe out a loaf in 24 hours, so I don't bother with the individual-slice freezing thing and just freeze/defrost whole loaves at once. Once defrosted, it lives in a grocery bag in the fridge so that we get more than a day or two on the off-chance that it is forgotten about. For any other home bakers out there, definitely grab a set of the Nordic Ware pans— they're worth every penny and so much more a joy to use than other thin-walled ones which rust, peel, and warp.
- dusted 6y agoYes. I don't eat bread regularly at home, so some times, it'll be a few weeks in the fridge, and it's just fine (after a trip in the toaster). Leave that same bread out and it'll be mouldy within the first week or two. This is regular french bread bought at the local bakery. Here in Denmark, we also have black bread, which are more normal to keep in the fridge, that bread does not seem to go stale the same way as french bread, but I also know some weirdos who keeps black bread outside the fridge :P
- ycombinete 6y agoWell it likely is stale. Warming the bread in toaster will reverse the staling process. The the article mentions this. You’re spot on about the mould.
- gravitas 6y agoMold is the real issue for me, i live in a humid area where breads molds in less than a week if left on the counter. Putting it in the fridge is just a necessity of life if you want a week or two of sandwiches from a loaf.
- aazaa 6y ago> ... Most of them are failing miserably. Not because the statements they are making are wrong, but because they fall prey to a common critical thinking mistake: failing to define our terms. ... Article then goes on to cogitate for 1,500 words while introducing no data or experiment. Do an experiment or go home.
- mumblemumble 6y agoSo, there's been a lot of reacting to this article on the level of bread preservation, and that's definitely some useful life knowledge, but don't miss the subtext: This article is using a debate about bread as the object of a lesson in the importance of precise communication. I've seen this argument happen before. It was once a source of much debate within my extended family. And, like the article describes, the basis for the acrimony was 100% that the two different camps were both defining the word "last" in two subtly different ways, and doggedly refusing to recognize or acknowledge it. Similar patterns play out elsewhere. For example, open source and copyleft tend to be using different working definitions of "free." And the distinction in question is not the one indicated by the F's capitalization.
- VLM 6y agoAnother classic example is free in the GNU sense vs the BSD sense.
- Karunamon 6y agoWouldn't it be better in the last case to use a different term that's less likely to be misunderstood/misinterpreted, especially in technical contexts that lack much of the cultural baggage that would prevent such a solution offline? So much miscommunication, wasted time, hurt feelings, etc could have been avoided if, say, GNU decided not to muddy the term "free".
- belorn 6y agoEverything could be avoided if the democrats did not muddly the term "freedom" and simply let the definition be the same as liberty. Through if we really want to find out whom to blame for ruining the word, it would be Thomas Hobbes and John Locke combined for not finding an agreement on the words definition.
- mumblemumble 6y agoBetter? Perhaps. Feasible? Not without first eliminating every trace of polysemy and connotation from the natural languages.
- 6y ago
- mywittyname 6y agoThe phenomena described by the author is called retrogradation.
- teddyh 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrogradation_(starch) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrogradation_(starch)
- peterwwillis 6y agoI actually had a bread box at one point, and the bread got moldy after two days. Maybe it just needed to be cleaned, or maybe it trapped moisture and heat?
- chris_st 6y agoTwo days is kind of surprising, if it was homemade. Ours would go four or five days before molding, so like everyone above, I cut mine the day after baking and freeze it.
- implements 6y agoJust as an aside, your can freeze milk too - though it has to be in a strong container that doesn’t allow too much expansion or the fat will separate on defrosting.
- clairity 6y agoi found that putting store-bought donuts in the fridge makes them last long enough (a week) to eat before going stale. and as a bonus, the hardened glaze is both easier on the fingers (and clothes) and enhances the sweetness. mmmmm, donuts!
- egypturnash 6y agoI live in a hot, humid, tropical city. If you leave bread out it will become a mold colony once you've opened the bag. Fresh, room-temperature bread is a luxury only available for sandwiches made immediately after opening the bag. Bread lives in the fridge after that. If you want to revivify your bread when it comes out of the fridge, sprinkle a little water on the underside and put it in the oven on a low temperature for 10-15 minutes. You will have nice warm slightly-toasted bread, and the water will have spread through it and helped it be more welcoming to the tooth.
- washadjeffmad 6y agoYou've caught an important detail- that it molds once you've opened the bag- but only if you leave it there in after. Bread boxes are one of those relics that faded into obscurity after the mid-century in the US, often becoming homes to all the other things you didn't know what to do with on your counters, but they used to serve an important role in keeping bread fresh and protected. When we switched from formed dough breads to inexpensive batter loaves (the ostensible wonder of "Wonder Bread" was that it didn't have any air pockets... because it was poured into the molds), the lack of hearty crust and reliance on high moisture meant its quality quickly degraded in the open air, making it poorly suited to the former storage. However, if you bake a traditional American sandwich loaf, the best way to keep its texture and preserve it is to leave it only lightly covered so moisture doesn't accumulate and invite mold or make the crust lose its crispness. So, if you want your bread to last (if indeed it is bread), don't stick it back in the bag to turn into a terrarium. Let it breathe and dehumidify some, and it will last until it dries completely. Better a little dry than moldy, right?
- marton78 6y agoBeing an obviously little short sighted European, it blows my mind that 1) bread boxes are not used everywhere and 2) it's not common knowledge that bread will get moldy when stored in a plastic bag. Happens even in temperate climate.
- calvinmorrison 6y ago
- crazygringo 6y agoThe article's facts are right, but its conclusion is kinda wrong. Don't put your bread in the fridge -- slice it and put it in the freezer! Because in either case you need to heat it up in the oven/toaster anyways, so you might as well put it somewhere where it will keep for months, rather than weeks.
- II2II 6y agoThat only works if you have space in the freezer.
- bitdizzy 6y agoMicrowaving frozen bread slices for 30-60 seconds (depends on how much bread and how powerful your microwave is) works like a charm too.
- spaetzleesser 6y agoI think that makes a lot of breads very chewy. In my view best is to let them sit at room temperature for around 30 minutes.
- timbit42 6y agoThey're a bit chewy when they come out but they go back to normal after sitting a bit.
- bzb5 6y agoAfter a few weeks in a freezer, the insides of the bread turn white and dry.
- dredmorbius 6y agoKeep the bread fully sealed. For long-term freezing, a chest freezer with no defrost cycle (which thaws and refreezes contents) is preferable.
- edem 6y agoI don't know but putting it in the freezer works. We usually buy bread every 2 weeks and put 2/3 of it into the freezer right off the bat.
- imotroubairitz 6y agoPrivate chef here - Industrially produced bread: freeze (sliced) and toast when needed or eat fresh. Never fridge. Home baked: eat fresh use the leftovers for puddings, or blend and freeze and use as breadcrumbs for cooking. https://gailsbread.co.uk/ https://gailsbread.co.uk/ Gail's bakery is the only place I know in the UK that can mass produce excellent bread. Their book is excellent. Of course there are many excellent artisan producers everywhere too...
- barrkel 6y agoSince the COVID lockdown in February, we've mostly switched over to part-baked bread rolls, individually packaged and baked on demand - 3 minutes to heat the oven, 10 minutes baking, and you've got a fresh warm roll, and most importantly, it has a crisp crust. It's a low labour medium between baking your own bread and buying bread almost every day, which is what I used to do. In fact I used buying bread as an excuse to get me out of the house when I used to work from home.
- jrochkind1 6y agoInteresting, I haven't noticed these sold but I haven't been looking. You buy at an ordinary grocery store? National brands? In the freezer section?
- aden1ne 6y agoIn large parts of Europe, an entire aisle is reserved for these types of productsin many supermarkets. Typically near the bread spreads section. Not sure whether this is common in the US.
- wikibob 6y agoAmericans eat baked wheat product and think that it is “bread”. It is not. It’s made from wheat but that’s where the similarities end.
- dlubarov 6y agoI'm not sure what the quality is like, but Target sells some "take and bake" breads (at least in my area): https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=take+and+bake https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=take+and+bake Trader Joe's also used to sell "half baked" breads, but I think those might have been discontinued?
- saalweachter 6y agoYou will also see this referred to as "parbaked", which I am assuming is a contraction of "part baked".
- the-dude 6y agoHow about not slicing it. Although my bread dries out towards the end ( 6 days? ), it does not mold.
- Angostura 6y agoI keep the bread in its bag in the fridge - it doesn't go off and it doesn't go stale as long as the bag is securely closed.
- lefrancais 6y agomy technique for baguette conservation : in the freezer You can store it for weeks up to a month I think. After that, simply in a oven, 120° celsius for 12-16 minutes
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- m3kw9 6y agoToasting bread from fridge has little difference than fresh unless you are talking artasinal breads meant to eat fresh. Otherwise freeze it and toast it, it will get 90% of the way there
- rawdeal 6y ago"yeet"?! What is "yeet"?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- teddyh 6y ago“To discard an item at a high velocity” — https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Yeet https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Yeet
- DrBazza 6y agoIt depends. A chilled fridge is also a dehumidifier, so if the bread isn't stored in a tightly sealed bag, it may dry out and go stale in the fridge, before you can eat it. If you eat bread quickly enough, then that's not a problem.
- tombert 6y agoThe article addresses this; stale bread is still edible, and for the most part can be brought back by applying some heat. Moldy bread is just bad, and must be thrown away.
- Springcleaning 6y agoThe Nine Grain bread from Franz never seem to mold and stays good in the fridge for over a month. Is that bakery so sanitary that there are no mold spores? https://www.franzbakery.com/HTML/productView.html#category=breads.premium&id=breads.premium.nineGrain https://www.franzbakery.com/HTML/productView.html#category=b...
- bluedino 6y agoRefrigerated bread gets damp spots in it that ruin the texture for me. Bleh.
- lobo_tuerto 6y agoI've seen people store bread not in the fridge but in the freezer (this was in Germany), I thought it was weird, but I think now that it's a cool way to store bread for long periods of time.
- GoodJokes 6y agoI love how you'll get a bunch of commenters on political articles being like"buh why is this on Hackernews?" but nothing of the sort on an article about storing bread. Really makes you think.
- eitland 6y agoDuring boot camp I remember the kitchen staff storing bread in the fridge because then soldiers would eat less bread. Of course some soldiers just ate more jam, ham and smoked salmon instead.
- Dalrymple 6y agoCould someone explain why the thin flatbread known as the tortilla seems to last much longer in a sealed bag? Ordinary bread molds on me in 4-5 days. I have kept a bag of tortillas around for a couple weeks without any mold. They do get stale if one forgets to seal the zip-type bag.
- vb6sp6 6y agoThe tortillas likely have have chemical leaving and extra preservatives. Make tortillas from scratch and they will also mold in a few days.
- jimnotgym 6y agoDoes Storing Bread in the Fridge Make it Last Longer? Not with a family of 5 to feed!
- m0zg 6y agoWe only store bread in a freezer, and use toaster to warm it up and toast it for consumption. This only really works with pre-sliced bread and serves 2 important functions: 1. Reduce the amount of bread we eat. You take out a slice and that's all you're going to eat, since it takes 2 minutes or so to toast it in the toaster. 2. Prevent bread from going moldy/dry/stale. You can enjoy a single loaf for a week this way.
- jedberg 6y ago> A French baguette is not likely to ever mold I have many points of data that this claim is false. :) Our local store often has a sale on French baguettes, so when I'm there I pick up two. We almost never get through them both before one molds.
- supernova87a 6y agoDoes steaming stale bread (and then maybe toasting it again) bring it back to close to the desired state? Can that re-inject the moisture? Anyone tried? or is "staling" a non-reversible (at least to the tongue) process?
- andimm 6y agoMy trick, is to keep the bread in the oven. It's almost air tight and I have the feeling that a bread stays fresh a couple of days longer than by any other method. Normally my oven is empty so I have some room there for free. And when I use the oven to heat i.e. a pizza I hope any fungi are killed.
- gnicholas 6y agoI live in Palo Alto and buy sourdough bread from Costco. If I don't put the loaves in the fridge immediately, they mold. Sometimes it happens in 36 hours, in an air-conditioned home, in an unopened bag. I don't know if this is specific to sourdough bread, but it is super frustrating because two Costco-sized loaves take up quite a bit of space in the fridge!
- SirYandi 6y agoThat's seems odd to me. I make sourdough at home without using any oil (article said oil makes bread last longer(?)) and find it goes dry long before molding occurs, if at all. Usually get a good 3-4 days before it's been hard to eat. I keep mine in a cloth sack in the cupboard if it makes any difference.
- TheRealPomax 6y agotl;dr: "Does storing bread in the fridge make it last longer? Yes." But not mentioned is that it lasts even longer if you stick it in the freezer until you need it, because plain bread freezes and defrosts just fine.
- 1vuio0pswjnm7 6y agoDoes anyone here have any experience with solar-powered toasters?
- oger 6y agotl;dr: it depends.
- easton_s 6y agoyes.
- lukaszkups 6y agoSince the COVID-19 situation happens all over the place, I'm doing one big groceries on Saturday for a whole week (that includes bottle water & sliced bread). We freeze sliced bread and defrost it in microwave (so we defrost only slices we're gonna eat). It takes some time to calculate proper amount of time (depends on microwave power level) as if you heat it too long the crust of bread become stiff & no really tasty at all - but we figured that out and our defrozen bread tastes almost like freshly baked one. In the end, it totally works for us, as if we would store unfrozen bread it would become dried up in a matter of 2-3 days.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- tootie 6y agoSliced frozen bread can actually go straight in the toaster if you give it a little extra time. If you want to eat it soft, it will defrost on the counter in maybe 30 minutes. My favorite is to freeze whole baguette. You can rub the exterior with water, wrap it in a cloth then bake for 8-10 min and it will come out like it's fresh baked.
- semerda 6y agoThis article bugged me. It spoke about the fridge as a preservation tool but failed to point to the freezer. The very important part of a fridge! We all know that the freezer plays a big role in preserving all our produce. I cut and freeze all the bread I buy and bake and when I defrost it, it’s top notch!
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y agoThis is all too much hassle for me, for several reasons. I avoid that by eating knäckebröd / crispbread instead. Several observations in hindsight: I don't have hard evidence, but feel that bread lasted longer up until maybe 1990 to 2000. Afterwards it spiraled downwards. The whole supply chain changed. What today would count as "artisanal/handmade/organic/bio" mostly was the old normal, up until that time frame. (At least where I live, in Germany.) I remember from my childhood (I am 51 now) that even then there was a difference in longevity between industrial supermarket bread, which wasn't that common then, and bread from the bakery. My mother tried that supermarket stuff several times for financial reasons, and came to the conclusion it wasn't worth it because of the waste, which the bread from the bakery didn't cause. She even tried that freezing stuff, and toasting it in a pan, so that was common knowledge then, too. Didn't really matter. Bakery bread lasted maybe 3 to 4 days in a bread box. Supermarket bread got stale after a few hours(bought in the morning, bad in the evening, mold after 2 days at the latest. Bakery bread didn't. Nowadays I have a factory outlet of an industrial bakery and two artisanal bakeries in walking/bicycling distance, so I can get that industrial stuff almost fresh from the conveyor belt, thereby eliminating any vagaries regarding transport. It tastes and feels ok, but makes my nose run, sometimes even sneeze and phlegma in my upper throat. This happens with almost anything which I tried from supermarkets, too. It doesn't happen with the artisanal/organic stuff from the bakeries, but I don't eat that much bread, living single, so it is either a waste, or hassle with freezing and toasting. Btw. no problems/allergies with Gluten, or anything else, for that matter. It doesn't happen with knäckebröd, which also doesn't get stale or moldy that fast, so I mostly eat that. Got up at 3:01AM, made my green tea, and had 2 slices of Wasa Sesam dipped in that. All good, no sniffing and sneezing. Anyways, don't eat that industrial stuff if you can avoid it. It is a chemical cocktail of additives nobody really knows the longterm interactions with your body, hidden behind cunning white labelling!